Make no mistake: we are in uncharted territory. Hank Paulson wants $700 billion of taxpayer’s money to buy up bad debt and ‘rescue’ the markets.Some lawmakers strongly opposed to the plan.

“The free market for all intents and purposes is dead in America,” said Senator Jim Bunning, Republican of Kentucky, on Friday.

Justice Litle says the plan is a minefield for investors. He says there are five things you need to know about the government bailout and what it means for your portfolio.

This from Taipan Publishing:

1) The bailout is one of staggeringly massive proportions.

As I write to you in the wee hours of Monday morning, prior to my transatlantic flight, the number being bandied about for the size of the bailout is $700 billion. Keep in mind, too, that this is an opening number. It doesn’t necessarily include relief for upside-down homeowners, strapped consumers, foreign banks or many other potential “extras” that …

– Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), the two last major investment banks left standing after the carnage Wall Street, have ended the era of investment banking by changing their status to bank holding companies. The change means the two firms can now create commercial banks that will be able to take deposits.

– The move marks a sea change on Wall Street 75 years since the Glass-Steagall Act that separated them from deposit-taking banks. The Federal Reserve will now take over from the Securities Exchange Commission as regulator of the two banks.

– “The decision marks the end of Wall Street as we have known it,” said William Isaac, a former chairman of the FDIC. “It’s too bad.”

– Concern is growing that Hank Paulson’s vast rescue plan for Wall Street may “crush” the dollar. According to Bloomberg: “The combination of spending $700 billion on soured mortgage-related assets and providing $400 …